With New Short Fiction Collection, Southern Author Janie Dempsey Watts Goes 'Round the World

Southern author Janie Dempsey Watts has written two novels: Moon Over Taylor's Ridge​ and Return to Taylor's Crossing. Both were set in North Georgia, the area where she resides. But she’s also spent decades in California and traveled globally. Her newest work is a collection of short stories, Mothers, Sons, Beloveds, and Other Strangers​, and the collection is divided, geographically, into three sections: stories set in the South, stories set in California, and stories in Europe.

Watts and other Chattanooga-area authors will have a reading at Star Line Books starting at 2:30 pm on December 2nd. Information is here.

Related Content

This Saturday, Chattanooga’s annual Southside showcase, Mainx24, kicks off early in the morning and continues for 24 hours straight. Richard Winham talked to Kelly Allan, one of the organizers, who told him that while the board oversees the event, it is truly curated by the community .

Chattanooga native Janie Dempsey Watts joins us to discuss her new novel Return to Taylor’s Crossing, which explores the lingering effects of racism and violence during the Civil Rights era in North Georgia. The novel was published in 2015.

Janie Dempsey Watts’s debut novel Moon Over Taylor’s Ridge hit the shelves of the Winder Binder Gallery & Bookstore in Chattanooga last fall and became one of the store’s bestselling local books. In this interview, Watts talks about the North Georgia legends and true history that inspired her.